610 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[February 3, 1373.. 
Dyce Duckworth, assisted by Mr. Carteighe, namely the 
acetum and the oxymel ipecacuanhoe. And then it had 
been suggested that it would be very desirable to have a 
pill mass in the Pharmacopoeia of a purgative nature, and 
not containing aloes. There was none such at present, 
and thei’efore they had proposed pilula jalapre composita, 
which should be free from aloes, and should owe its 
purgative quality to some other ingredient. Then there 
was nitrate of ammonia, which they thought of intro¬ 
ducing because it was now used in the preparation of 
nitrous oxide. Next there was precipitated oxide of 
mercury, which, for certain purposes, was found to be 
more active and efficacious than the red precipitate 
obtained by the application of heat. Then there was 
pepsine, some form of which it would be proposed to 
introduce into the supplement. It had been suggested, 
moreover, that they might probably introduce a new 
form of suppositories. Some medical men took exception 
to the present suppositories on account of their greasy 
basis, and it had been proposed that either gelatine, 
softened with glycerine, or starch and glycerine, might 
be used in certain cases as a more suitable because a more 
cleanly basis. The greasiness occasioned by the use of 
the present suppositories was a source of discomfort and 
annoyance. These were some of the propositions which 
had hitherto been made, and the Pharmacopoeia Com¬ 
mittee were anxious to obtain as extensively as possible 
the opinions of pharmacists with reference to these and 
other additions which it might be thought desirable to 
make to the Pharmacopoeia. 
The President said that this communication was a very 
important one, and he hoped that the members would work 
at the subject, and state the result at some future meeting. 
Professor Bentley asked whether Dr. Redwood pro¬ 
posed to bring the subject forward again. 
Dr. Redwood said that perhaps he should have ex¬ 
plained that his reason for bringing the subject forward 
provisionally that evening was that the Medical Council 
expected to meet in the early part of April, and the 
Pharmacopoeia Committee proposed to have the draft of 
an appendix prepared and submitted to the Council next 
month. He should have to draw up that appendix and 
submit it to the Committee by the 1st of March, so that 
it might be circulated before the Council itself met. Of 
course, it would be quite open to make any further 
alterations afterwards, but, in some form or other, the 
appendix would have to be before the members of the 
Medical Council soon after the first of next month. 
That would happen before the next meeting, but, proba¬ 
bly, throughout the whole of this year the subject could 
be discussed, for he was not quite clear that the reprint 
would take place until the commencement of next year. 
The President announced that the next meeting 
would be held on the 5th of March. 
rabinrral ®ransart«ras. 
CARLISLE CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The usual monthly meeting of this association was 
held in the class-room on Thursday evening, the 23rd 
January. There was but a moderate attendance of 
members, but a tolerably good muster of associates. 
Upon the table was displayed a collection of specimens 
of materia medica, comprising about forty articles, the 
gift of Messrs. Clarke, Bleasdale, Bell and Tollinton, of 
York; also a copy of Pereira’s ‘ Materia Medica/ pre¬ 
sented by AV. Martindale, Esq., of London. 
Votes of thanks were unanimously passed to the 
donors, after which, Mr. J. Robson proceeded to read a 
paper upon “ Glycerine as a Means of Preserving Infu¬ 
sions,” etc., which was very well received, and gave occa¬ 
sion for an animated discussion, diverging into the ques¬ 
tion of the propriety or otherwise of using concentrated 
infusions generally. 
A cordial vote of thanks was given to Mr. Robson, and 
a similar vote to the president closed the proceedings. 
Corrtspn&cntc. 
Milk Testing. 
Sir,—Before closing your pages to the discussion on milk 
adulteration, I desire to express my dissent from the conclu¬ 
sion of Mr. Ekin, “ that water is really the only adulterant 
ever met with in milk.” That it is more extensively and fre¬ 
quently used than any other I freely admit; but when pur¬ 
veyors of milk become purchasers of lactometers, and milk, 
as an article of commerce, manufactured to a standard within- 
the range, something more than aqueous attenuation must 
be sought for, and is, by diligent research, too frequently dis¬ 
covered. 
I have found commixture with egg3 adopted to conceal 
o!ker adulteration of both milk and cream. A r ery recently a 
sample of the latter which had undergone spontaneous co¬ 
agulation was sent to me for examination, and I believe that 
yolk of egg is the golden accompaniment which more fre¬ 
quently than any other colouring matter assists in passing- 
off attenuated sky-blue as new milk. The suggested method 
of a correspondent for determining the amount of milk-sugar 
in whey by cupric reduction possesses no novelty. It is 
familiar as Barreswil’s process. Many of your older readers 
will doubtless remember to have seen it as a portion of a 
very good article by M. Poggiale “ On the Estimation of' 
Sugar of Milk, and the Determination of the Richness of 
Milk,” which was copied from the ‘Journal de Pharmacie ’ 
into A r ol. IX. of your Journal, 1849-50. This article also ap¬ 
pears, with additions, in the ‘ Chemist,’ vol. iv. N. S., 1857. 
I remember to have read years ago of the discovery in Paris 
of the use of dextrine as a milk adulterant to some considerable- 
extent, and then drew the inference that the comparatively 
easy transformation of this substance into glucose would ma¬ 
terially detract from the value of Barreswil’s process as a 
facile mode of approximately determining the amount of 
water adulteration in milk. To my mind it is open to ques¬ 
tion whether a useful cupric solution can be made, as stated by~ 
your correspondent, so that 100 grains should correspond to- 
5 whole grains of lactose, and I have still graver doubts as to- 
whether the use of such a concentrated solution affords 
the best or even a reliable method of estimating lactose in 
whey. It is certain that lactose cannot in its reducing effect 
on cupric salt be considered equivalent to glucose, although, 
the somewhat vague quotation from a correspondent’s letter 
(page 482) would seem to imply that Dr. Attfield, in this re¬ 
spect, so treated them. I have read the several editions of Att- 
field’s ‘ Chemistry’ with both pleasure and profit, and venture 
to affirm that in all of them our worthy Professor has been toe 
careful to commit himself to such a blunder, or even suggest 
the application of any such cupric solution as a mode of 
determining lactose. The divergent results of the observa¬ 
tions of Messrs. Ekin and Southwell as to the acid or alkaline 
reaction of new cows’ milk may be easily reconciled, and 
possibly were contingent upon the state of health and con¬ 
dition of the animals yielding it, but are far more likely to be 
dietary results arising from and attributable to variation in 
the mode of feeding. It will be found, as a rule, subject to- 
some exception, that the recent milk of pastured cows indi¬ 
cates alkaline, w r hilst that of stall-fed cows gives acid reaction. 
I need scarcely add that in other respects the quality of the 
milk yielded depends very much upon the quality and kind 
of food given. The observations and experiments of Mr. 
Thos. Garside, printed in your last number, commend them¬ 
selves to the careful consideration and remembrance of all 
those who are engaged in milk investigation, or are ever re¬ 
quired to offer opinion upon the dietet ic value of milk of com¬ 
merce. Alexr. Bottle. 
Joseph 'Young (Leicester).—Spirit of ’888 sp. gr. = 63 per 
cent, alcohol, is 2P3 o. p. Spirit of *830 contains 87 per 
cent, of absolute alcohol by weight. The other equivalents 
you quote are correct. 
C$Sp*Tn consequence of the length to which the report of 
the Society’s proceedings has extended, we are compelled to- 
defer the publication of several communications and an¬ 
swers to correspondents. 
Communications, Letters, etc., have been received from 
Messrs. C. Patrouillard (Gisors), J. Leay, Crew, McKnight, 
Bennett, White, Masson (Paris), J. Cyriax, Schweitzer, 
Ifaffenden, Pitman, A. II. Mason, R. E. Charles, Dawes, 
Widdowson, Yewdall, Biss, Kay Bros., Dr. Kidd, Cecil, 
Major Associate, Pix Liquida. 
